Publication Types

Dana El Kurd

Dana El Kurd is a PhD candidate in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in Comparative Politics and International Relations (IR). She is interested in how authoritarian regimes try to implement policies and how external intervention may affect their success. Her research lies at the intersection of comparative and IR research, particularly with regards to international influence on domestic institutions. Her dissertation addresses the effect of international (particularly U.S.) involvement on the Palestinian Authority, and how this has facilitated authoritarian trends over time. She also uses the Palestine case to explore how authoritarian practices affect polarization, and the implications this has for collective action and political mobilization.

Publications

This essay discusses the marginalization of civil society groups in the Palestinian Territories. It shows that this outcome was not an organic development but a calculated strategy on the part of the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) and its allies, and as a direct result of its authoritarian practices. The essay explores the ways in which the P.A. achieves this control, and explains how such a strategy affects the functioning of civil society over time.